The Impact of Module Based Curriculum and Extra-Curriculum ...

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Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 1756–1760

WCES-2011

The Impact of Module Based Curriculum and Extra-Curriculum Activities' in Developing Environmental Skills among Saudi’s Secondary Students Al Fowehi Hazaa Abdul Karema1, Kamisah Osmanb, T. Subahan Mohd Meerahc a Faculty of Education, Al-Jouf University, Saudi Arabia Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

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Abstract Curriculum and Extra-Curriculum activities are one of the basic elements in school education. These activities are designed to mold students to become a rationale, pragmatic and knowledgeable citizens in an increasingly diverse and changing world. Unfortunately, in Saudi, studies which measure the extent of curriculum and Extra-Curriculum activities' in developing environmental skills and values among Saudi's secondary students was rare. Therefore the present study was planned to investigate the effectiveness of the curriculum and Extra-Curriculum activities in developing environmental skills and values among the Saudis' secondary students. This study aimed at examining the effectiveness of the module, based on the curriculum and Extra-Curriculum activities focusing in developing environmental skills and values among the Saudis' secondary Biology students. A Random sampling of the study consisted of (100) students of each gender "males and females" at Al-Jouf Educational District in Saudi Arabia. Analyses of the findings reveal that students who were exposed to the curriculum and Extra-Curriculum environmental intervention module significantly improved their environmental skills compared to their counterparts in the control group. In addition, when gender effect was measured, it was found that significant improvement occurred within both female and male groups. The findings will then lead to several suggestions on how to improve the existing teaching of environmental issues within the context of Saudi’s Biology classes. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. Keywords: Environmental Skills, Secondary Students

1. Introduction Curriculum and extra-curriculum activities which combine the gaining of knowledge and skills, through practical life experiences and social participation represent an ideal professional standard for educators. Working to achieve that ideal is vital to the future of the society (Adkins & Simmons, 2002). Broadly speaking, it is believed that the function of education is to make the necessary changes expected by the society and to provide better adaptation to the developing society while developing self-actualization (Schacter, 2002). Teaching is not primarily transmitting information, but it also involves probing, discovering, analyzing, and directing. Thus, a teacher's task is to help students to learn to live effectively today and to prepare them to be creative and productive for the twenty-first century (Payne, 2006). In teaching and learning Science, many researchers argue that students are more likely to

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Al Fowehi Hazaa Abdul Karem. Tel.:+6 019 2884814; fax:+6 03 89254372 E-mail address:[email protected] .

1877–0428 © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.03.364

Al Fowehi Hazaa Abdul Karem et al. / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15 (2011) 1756–1760

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learn when they are involved in a well prepared and organized set of classroom and non- classroom activities. This is because such learning experiences are not only fun to most of the students, but they are also directly related to their everyday life experiences. Additionally, experiences gained in such learning environment also cultivate in themselves generic skills such as critical thinking and problem solving as well as fostering positive attitudes as well as asserting values. Presently, environmental pollution is one of the world’s biggest problems that requires global cooperation. This phenomenon is disastrous to human survival, even more than ordinary diseases or conflicts (Meinardi & Revel Choin, 2005). Environmental problems have been around for a long time, affecting the physical and natural environment making life more difficult for all. Although there are many factors which lead to this phenomenon, environmental pollution is mainly caused by the industrial and technological developments that have taken place in the last few decades. In spite of advantages of development, there are serious repercussions to the environment. For example, environmental disorder, lack of water, mismanagement and heavy consumption of natural resources and temperature inconsistency all around the world. In a similar vein, Rickinson (2001) claims that environment has changed rapidly around the world due to pollution, ecological damage and wars. This detriment is not only restricted to certain countries, but has grown to become a universal problem as well. Global climate change, ozone depletion, air, water and food pollution and solid waste miss-management are some of the environmental issues that are currently a cause for concern (Meinardi & Revel-Chion, 2005). 2. Context of the Problem Many studies have pointed out the importance of curriculum and Extra- Curriculum activities in character building and refinement among students to equip them with the desired accuracy, cleanliness and order (Schacter, 2002). Furthermore these studies have stressed on the integrated education approach which will help the students to discover their abilities, inclinations, satisfaction of needs, motivations, expression of opinion thus allowing them to perform their role effectively. Consequently, failure to secure the requirements of the curriculum and ExtraCurriculum activities will result in the students losing track of the learning process. As the case in many of our schools, where important activities are not given the right emphasis in terms of quantity and quality. Researchers have found many shortcomings in current curriculum and Extra- Curriculum activities which makes it impossible to achieve its goals, given the lack of reasonable input and awareness on the importance of these activities. There is also a need for verification of activities through interdependence and interaction between theory and application on the concepts of environmental education. This is to ensure that the students in science classes are given substantial environmental knowledge which can encourage them to apply scientific methods to everyday life. This will enable them to acquire values and skills which are reflected in their environmental behavior and practice when dealing with the environment and its problems, which are still missing in the prevalence of traditional teaching methods in many schools (Malone & Tranter, 2003). According to Eagles and Demare (1999), there are deficiencies in the implementation of lesson plans, curriculum and Extra- Curriculum activities. Gotch and Hall (2004) added that, the success of environmental education activities is based largely on well designed programs that allow students to participate in activities geared to identify the natural environment, and the collection of data on the components, training of participants to the acquire the study skill of the problems and apply it in knowledge of procedure, to ensure the formation of values and positive attitudes towards the environment behavior, and responsibility towards the moral issues. The importance of environmental education is becoming increasingly acute in Saudi Arabia as a result of scientific and technological development of Saudi Arabia which accompany the discovery of oil. The environment of Gulf countries in general and Saudi Arabia in particular are distinguished by some characteristics that vary from one environment to the other. The area is a semi-closed gulf and is vigorously exposed to many types of pollution from oil and oil tankers touring along some of the biggest oil producing countries. The environment in Saudi Arabia has specific problems due to its’ natural and climatic factors, such as the rise of temperature and humidity in summer, the percentage of desertification, and the lack of water supply and rain in general. They are all local environmental problems that need to be addressed immediately. With regards to all the issues stated above, they have inspired the purpose of this study which is specifically designed to investigate the effects of the curriculum and Extra- Curriculum activities on developing environmental awareness and values among male and female students of the Saudi Arabia’s public secondary schools.

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3.1. Research Design and Sample of the Study A quasi-experimental study was systematically planned to investigate the effectiveness of the curriculum and Extra- Curriculum activities in instilling environmental skills among the Saudi Arabian secondary Biology students (Cook & Campbell, 1979). The male and female students were equally segregated into the experimental and control groups. The students in the control group underwent normal Biology teaching and learning. The initial population of this study consisted of 600 Saudi Arabian males and females secondary biology students from 8 public schools, covering 16 sections in Al-Jouf Educational District in Saudi Arabia. Students were randomly chosen based on gender, whilst ensuring representation from all districts. Finally 100 male and 50 female secondary Biology students were chosen as respondents in this quasi- experimental study. 3.2. Instrument of the Study The main instrument used to measure the development of environmental skills in biology classroom is questionnaire, which validity and reliability were tested prior to the study. The questionnaire consists of 26 multiple choice items covering three dimensions of environmental skills: Identification of environmental problems (9 items), Organization of the environmental data analysis (8 items), and Suggested solutions for environmental problems (9items). The validity of the questionnaire was established by 15 content experts from Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The team included 10 PhD holders in Curriculum and Instruction in Science Education, Languages, Measurement and Evaluation, and Environment Education. The remaining were 5 senior Biology teachers and supervisors, specializing in Environmental Education. The reliability of the questionnaire was then tested by means of a pilot study involving 50 students (25 males; 25 females) from public secondary schools around Al-Jouf Educational Zone in Saudi Arabia. Since the instrument consisted of different content areas in different subscales and all of its items were scored continuously, the Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha formula was utilized in estimating the internal consistency of the instrument. The Cronbach Alpha Coefficients are 0.83, 0.81 and 0.82 for identification of environmental problems, organization of the environmental data analysis and suggested solutions for environmental problems. The coefficient skills are greater than the threshold 0.5 suggested by Nunally (1978) and thus indicating that each instrument subscale possesses an adequate internal consistency to warrant its use in measuring the environmental skills as operationally defined in this study. 3.3. Curriculum and Extra- Curriculum Environmental Modules In designing the module, the researcher adopted Palmer and Neal’s (1994) approach which emphasize that environmental education will help shape students’ knowledge, skills and values. As illustrated in Figure 1, education for environment focuses on improvement of environment, understanding concepts and skills. On the other hand, education in environment stresses the importance of assimilating students in real life situations in inspiring meaningful learning on their part.

Figure 1. Palmer and Neal Module for teaching and learning in Environmetal Education

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Hypothesis 1: There is no statistically significant pre test mean difference between the male students in both experimental and control groups on the environmental kills. Hypothesis 2: There is no statistically significant pre test mean difference between the female students in both experimental and control groups on the environmental skills. Table1. Male and Female Students T – Test Results for the Comparison between the Experimental and Control Groups On the Environmental Skills Pre Test Score Gender

Group

Experimental Control Experimental Female Control Significant level; D=0.05 Male

N

Mean

25 25 25 25

9.0 7.7 10.1 7.6

Standard Deviation 5.6 7.1 5.9 6.7

Standard Error 1.8

t 1.28

p>0.05

1.5

1.16

p>0.05

p

From Table 1, the mean for the male students’ in the experimental group (9.0) was larger compared to the control group (7.7). However, based on the t-values, it could be concluded that the two groups appear to be of equal before the researcher implemented the intervention strategies. Similar results were also shown in the female group. Although the mean for the female students in the experimental group (10.1) was larger than the mean for the female control group (7.6), t-test values show insignificant difference. Thus, it could be concluded that female students in both groups (experimental and control) are homogenous in terms of environmental skills as measured in this study. Hypothesis 3: There are no statistically significant post-test mean differences between the male students in both experimental and control groups on the environmental skills. Hypothesis 4: There are no statistically significant post-test mean differences between the female students in both experimental and control groups on the environmental skills. Table 2. T-Test's Results of the Male Students Experimental and Control Groups on the Environmental Skills Post Test Scores Gender

Group

Experimental (N=25) Control ( N=25) Experimental (N=25) Female Control ( N=25) **Significant level; D=0.05 Male

Mean 9.6 7.6 13.6 9.0

Standard Deviation 3.5 4.0 4.9 5.6

t

p

2.660**

p